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Hi friends! I love paper, almost as much as stamps and you can’t stamp without paper so there you go (it’s my own personal addiction glue.) I think my obsession with paper is why I prefer watercolor and pastel painting to other media, there is just something about the humble sheet of fibery goodness. If you are like me you have amassed quite a stash of it too so today I will show you all the ways I store it. If you are a sensible person and have far less paper then me I will share some ways to store a smaller stash too. I neglected to mention how I store my 22″x30″ sheets of watercolor paper in the video because they are not it my studio. I keep them in a large flat file under my bed upstairs where it is drier and more consistent in temperature because that stuff is my “precious” but NOT too precious to use. 🙂 Now brace yourself for 20 minutes of action packed paper storage!

I have been preparing to film the rest of the videos in the studio storage series. And by “preparing” I mean cleaning so you do not see what I hot mess I really am LOL! Seriously, I question the way I store things as I consider filming a tutorial and I think it has improved my workflow a bit especially in the die cutting and embossing areas, spoiler alert, that’s the next storage video! How are your craft storage projects coming along? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Valentines Day will be here before you know it. Why not make a special little treat for someone you love this year?

This woven heart pocket is simple to make and double the fun because you can put candy inside. To make it more special I embellished it with lovely ribbon from Offray. In today’s video I’ll show you how to weave the pocket, add a ribbon ruffle and tie a perfect tiny bow!

Watch the video to see how to make the woven heart. Follow along and pause if needed.

Thanks to Offray for sponsoring this post. Use the coupon code FRUGAL15 to get 15% off your order at Offray.com. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

*Details: Use FRUGAL15 during checkout on Offray.com to receive 15% off one order. Offer expires 11:59 PM eastern time on January 31, 2015. Discount excludes applicable tax and shipping costs. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Discount cannot be applied to previous purchases. Subject to change or cancellation without notice. Other restrictions may apply.

Hi Friends! Tonight I have a fun project using cardstock and duct tape, have a look:

If you don’t have duct tape you can use 2″ ribbon, scrapbook paper or even leftover gift wrap, just cut it into 2″ wide strips and cut those into 1 1/2″ lengths and fold them just like I did in the video. If you are not using duct tape you will need to use glue, I suggest a glue stock for thin wrapping paper, tacky glue or hot glue for scrapbook paper and hot glue for ribbon. The duck tape I used is from Oriental Trading Company. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Hi friends! I wanted to do a bit of fun scrapbooking yesterday and thought that I would turn on the camera when I did. Little did I know that the these of the video would be scrapping with only paper and photos and tips for using both. I made this 2 page layout in under 30 minutes:

Meaningful pages do not have to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money to make. In fact I think using the supplies you have on hand is best for 2 reasons: Less choice so it is quicker and less money because you shop your stash. If you are about to do some scrapbook shopping keep my tips I share throughout the video in mind so you can make wise pattered paper choices. I’ll type more tips out for you below as well. I hope you enjoy this chatty video:) Grab some photos and it will be like we are cropping together!

Since I talked so much (and so fast, sorry about that guys) I wanted to write out my tips and specific items I mentioned in case you wanted to find out more. First, here are the supplies I used on the page:

3 sheets of patterned paper from a Heidi Swapp/American Crafts pad (also a $5 deal at ACMoore)***This paper I refer to as “embellishment paper” because it contains a lot of elements that can be cut out to use as journal cards and embellishments. (not to be confused with the embellishment paper that Making Memories used to make) I save all of the unused parts of this papers for future layouts, it is really handy because it coordinates with the other papers in the pad. Look for paper pads that have these “embellishment papers” in them because they make scrapbooking cheap and easy!

X-Acto knife and metal ruler/scissors

Dry Adhesive & foam tabs if desired

Brown ink pad if you like the look of inked edges.

Tips for embellishing with patterned paper:
1. Use a natural background like kraft, black or white.
2. Choose papers with patterns of different scale, notice the star print is small and the dots are medium.
3. Choose paper that has journal blocks, cards, banners and tags that can be cut part giving you many ways to use one sheet.
4. Save leftover scraps from your project together in a page protector and you have a future layout ready to go!

Tips for photos {I print mine from home!}
1. I use generic HP02 ink cartridges (6 color set is $5 on amazon and works as well as the $40 HP ink) and Canon Pixma paper, also purchased on amazon for about $12/100 pack 8.5″x11″
2. Print your photos in a collage. I used Paint Shop Pro to arrange these because they needed corrections (they were taken with a low-end camera phone) but for most printing I use the free ipiccy online software.
3. Print dates and titles in leftover areas of the page (if you have any) not only will it help you remember but it is also another page element for no extra cost!
4. If you are printing at home you can use dye based ink to ink edges or rubber stamp on your photos BUT avoid using photo-polymer stamps on your home printed photos because they may bond with the slick photo paper.
5. Store your photo collages in 8″x11″ page proctors (cheap at the office supply store) right in your scrapbook until you are ready to scrapbook them, that way they are organized, you can still flip through and enjoy them and if you never scrap them it is not the end of the world. You have them printed, yeah you! You win the day!
6. This is an organizing tip. Download photos every month from your phone, camera, tablet and Facebook (download any photos you are tagged in and want to keep, they will not be the best quality but they are memories and you should print them, they will look OK if kept under 4″x4″.) Then print out a bunch of photos at a time every couple of months OR upload them to a photo lab to have them printed. You can even have them uploaded to Target or Wal-Mart and pick them up in an hour. There is no excuse, you can do this:)

Biggest tip!!! Don’t worry about being perfect, just capture the memories and have fun. There is no wrong way. Your way is perfect! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Hi Friends! Today I have a fun craft/toy/decoration that you or your children can make: Party Pinwheels! And they really spin!

I bet you have all of the supplies you need at home but if you don’t check out our sponsor Papermart where you will find the best prices on the highest quality party and craft items. For this project you will need:

Hi Friends! Do you ever need a last-minute card to send? Or maybe you want to make a stationery set to give as a gift or sell at a craft fair? Well today I’ll show you how to line and envelope and make a chic and trendy card in under 5 minutes!

I think it took me 10 minutes to make the set of three! Talk about a great craft fair idea and you can do it affordably using supplies from our sponsor Papermart:

Optional: Clear bags for packaging up your card sets for sale-I like the 6″x9″ size

Directions

Measure envelope from under the glue on the flap to the bottom of the envelope. Measure the width minus 1/8″ Cut paper scrapbook paper to that size.

Trace the flap of the envelope on the scrapbook paper and cut on the lines.

Insert liner into envelop and attach with a bit of glue.

To make the card emboss the front panel of a card with and embossing folder and fold in half. Ink the raised design if desired.

Adhere a strip of leftover scrapbook paper to the front and tie a ribbon around that area.

I hope you try this easy cardmaking idea and if you need a large quantity of envelopes, ribbon or any other packaging supplies please check out Papermart and don’t forget to tell them Lindsay sent you. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A reader, Viki B., mentioned using embossing powder in a comment on that post and I thought Ah-ha! I can dome scrapbook paper and coat it in UTEE! Best of all you can use up scraps leftover from a project to make embellishments that match perfectly! Watch the video to see how easy it is!

I love making these “on demand” and as needed, not to mention no toxic fumes or potentially burning down the house. That’s what is known in the craftng world as a “win-win-win!”

I also was admiring some of the feather dies out there but I hate to buy something that is trendy because when the trend is over you are stuck with a die you may never use again. I’ll show you how to hand cut feathers. It’s quick and easy and no two will be the same, it’s like having an infinite amount of dies for zero bucks! Here is the video tutorial:

What do you think of approaching the project backwards? First make the envelope (I used a Kreate-a-lope from Green Sneakers) then make the embellishments. Hardly any waste so it is perfect for the paper we have been hoarding and so cute and useful! They would make great gift sets too I think!

I wanted to share my first embossing powder attempt. I first thought I could stamp dots on my card and emboss them with colored powder but the result was kinda flat so I added more powder but I lost the definition. I punched out those attempts and adhered them to the above card. I was not happy with that so then I tried punching patterned paper, doming it and coating with UTEE. much better. See we rarely get it perfect on our first try, keep at it, you will get it! 3rd time’s a charm right? I hope you give this a try, thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!